A good friend of mine from high school told me the other day that she’s pregnant. I am so excited for her, and I can’t help but think of all the things I’ve learned in the past four months or so that I wish I’d known then. I’ve been keeping a mental list of things I don’t want to forget for next time around. So, as time allows, I thought I’d jot them down here for posterity. Mostly so that the next time I find myself with child, I’ll have a handy reference. And if I can be helpful to anyone else, all the better.
For the hospital stay:
- Don’t worry about packing a small, cute bag. Pack a bag that’s big enough for everything you think you might want, and has room to spare for the gifts that will likely arrive at the hospital.
- Bring an extra empty tote bag too, just in case you have an overflow situation.
- Bring the Boppy (or other nursing pillow). It’s hard to position the crappy hospital pillows just right, especially with a C-Section scar.
- Pack at least two pairs of PJs for each day you think you’ll stay there. Saving room in the bag by not packing enough clothing isn’t a good idea.
- Make sure the clothes you pack are things you don’t ever need to see again, in case lanolin, milk or other stains render them unwearable after the hospital stay.
- Make sure the husband packs enough clothing too. Maybe he shouldn’t be in charge of packing his own bag.
- Bring snacks or baked goods for the nursing staff.
- Bring snacks for the husband too.
- Don’t be in a hurry to check out of the hospital. Taking care of the baby at home is a lot harder than taking care of the baby in the hospital, where you have no other responsibilities besides said baby. Stay as long as the hospital and your insurance will let you.
4 comments:
I guess I just wonder about the baked goods. Unless you have a scheduled induction -- how will you know when to bake? These are the sorts of things I wonder during my lunch break. I have a pretty lame lunch break, apparently!
Hey! That's me!!! Thanks for the shout out; I'm taking notes on everything you write! haha I'm with Rachel; baked goods for the staff sounds quite daunting. Maybe I could do what I did for the most recent bake sale here at work - purchase cupcakes then put them on a plate so they look like they came from home...
About the baked goods... Since you're in the hospital for a couple of days, this is an area where a well-wisher could help you out. Someone who keeps begging to help you out, but for whom you have no discrete tasks to mete out. Alternatively, if you're like me and you schedule the birthin' of your babies in advance, you can bake the night before.
We got this tip from a guy we met before the baby came, and we wish we'd done it. There were stretches of time when the (overworked, underappreciated) nurses seemed to forget all about me. I bet if I'd had brownies or muffins for them, they wouldn't have.
I baked in advance and then put them in the freezer. We grabbed them out of the freezer when we left for the hospital.
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